BLACK SABBATH's First Manager On Band's Early Recordings As EARTH: 'It's A Historical Document'

Earlier this year, Rockefellas TV launched "Brad's Basement", a new original show hosted by internationally seasoned singer, songwriter, performer and presenter Brad Henshaw, now available through the Rockefellas TV app and RockefellasTV.com. Among the show's early standout interviews is a conversation with Jim Simpson, the original manager of BLACK SABBATH, who shares early stories from Birmingham and reflects on the city's foundational role in rock history. Simpson also brings added cultural weight as the longtime force behind the Birmingham Jazz & Blues Festival, which he has led in the city for 41 years.

Simpson, who managed BLACK SABBATH in the band's earliest days, announced last year — weeks prior to Ozzy Osbourne's death — that he intended to release a collection of 1969 demos recorded before the band adopted the BLACK SABBATH name. The material, titled "Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes", was initially expected for release in July 2025, but Sharon Osbourne's legal threats put a block on its release, warning Simpson against moving forward without the band's approval. The demos in question feature BLACK SABBATH's original lineup during the brief period when the four musicians performed under the name EARTH.

Regarding how the idea came about to release the EARTH recordings, Simpson told "Brad's Basement" (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it was a coincidence, really. For a start, I've been in touch with Bill Ward consistently. I did a show called 'The Birth Of Metal', a show. It was just a weekend of local rock, local bands who owed something to SABBATH influentially, as it were. And the 13th of February, 1970 was the release of the first album, so I see that as the birth of metal. I did that for two years, three years, just locally. Bill Ward came over to Birmingham to help a local comedian, Joe Lycett. He did a series of interviews throughout America called 'United States Of Birmingham'. Bill was in Birmingham for that, and he said, would I go and have breakfast with him?' So I went over to his hotel, and we had a three-hour breakfast, and I introduced him to the recordings, which he liked. And so, as a result of that, I went back to the office and thought, 'Hmm, I can't not tell the rest.' So I e-mailed Tony, asked him to pass it on to [Iommi's longtime manager] Ralph [Baker]. In turn, they passed it on to Sharon. I passed it on to Geezer, and Bill, of course, knew anyway. The others didn't share the enthusiasm for the project."

Elaborating on how he originally intended to release the recordings, before Sharon put a stop to it, Jim said: "The album was called 'Earth: The Lost Tapes'. But the sleeve notes, which I wrote, talked about those great days in Birmingham when Birmingham established itself as the U.K. home of rock 'n' roll. And it exalted some of the names that were coming through and the people who made us famous musically, and it ended up by saying, 'At the end of the decade came along one band who would not only change the face of music in U.K., but create their own style and go on to world domination.' I didn't mention the words BLACK SABBATH. Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward were not mentioned. It irked somebody."

Jim went on to say that at the time of the "Brad's Basement" interview, which was apparently taped in early 2026, negotiations with Sharon were "still progressing" to release the EARTH demos. He added: "But right at the beginning I was told that the band didn't want it to happen. So instead of paying a royalty to the band, I'd already arranged, and I've got correspondence to prove this, I talked to a Birmingham charity called St Basils, which is a charity for homeless young people. And it seemed to figure as the right sort of people to benefit from it. So if the band didn't want to get a royalty, then I was prepared to, happily, delighted to pass it on to St Basils. I've had to tell them what's happened to us since, of course, but I'd be tempted to do something for them."

After Henshaw noted that the EARTH demos represent "musical history" and that it is "important" for them to be heard by the SABBATH fans, Simpson concurred. "You're quite right," he said. "They were a blues band when I met them. And the album's nine tracks. It starts off with four blues tracks, a couple of jazz tracks because of Tony Iommi's love of gypsy jazz. The two jazz tracks are both called 'Song For Jim'. One featured Tony on guitar, the other featured Tony on flute. We'd already recorded one with guitar, so we recorded it again with flute. And he did a good job. Well, they all did a good job. But the remaining tracks, after the first few tracks, the remaining four tracks, get towards but never quite reach what you know of as BLACK SABBATH. It slowly got heavier and heavier. So, as you said, it's a historical document. Any real BLACK SABBATH fans will really want to hear this."

This past April, Sharon offered an update on the legal dispute with Jim during an appearance on an episode of "The Osbournes" podcast, telling her son Jack: "We settled with Jim Simpson and the band now have their demos back. And all four of them [the original members of BLACK SABBATH] own it, which is where it should be. All of that stuff should be theirs. So it all ended well. So, yeah, they own them. We're gonna talk about what everybody wants to do with it, and we'll go from there."

Sharon added that the EARTH recordings are "very different" from what BLACK SABBATH eventually became, featuring a more blues-driven direction. But she explained: "I just think it's historically important — for music lovers of that genre. And then we got [the rights to] the pictures that were taken at that time too. So, that is all so important. I mean, listen, you [Jack] want those pictures. Everybody in the band's kids and grandkids would love to see [them]… It's special. And I'm just happy that it's where it should be — with the band, and [they can decide] what they wanna do as a band, what they're gonna do with it. So that's great."

Sharon went on to thank Simpson for eventually working out a deal with the members of BLACK SABBATH so that the recordings would end up under their ownership.

"He did the right thing at the end of the day," Sharon said. "He did the right thing for the band."

Simpson, now in his late 80s, previously claimed to have paid for the recordings back in 1969 when Ozzy and the other three musicians were youngsters in a band called EARTH. He said that he had since restored and remastered each track and initially planned to issue the material via his Birmingham blues/jazz label Big Bear Records.

Last fall, Jim insisted that he gave the members of BLACK SABBATH an opportunity to be included in the process of having the recordings officially released, but that they declined.

"I approached members of the band about this on 24 September 2024," he said. "The message I got back was that they didn't want it released and wanted nothing to do with it. This included two very threatening e-mails from Sharon. But the band had every chance to be involved."

Simpson added: "My reason for launching this album is because it will become a crucial segment of music history. It contains recordings that clearly demonstrate what fine music Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill were producing right from the very beginning in their pre-SABBATH days. It shows how these four young men from Birmingham, barely out of their teens, were already remarkable musicians when they existed as EARTH, and that they fully deserved all the success that was to come their way as BLACK SABBATH."

"Earth: The Legendary Lost Tapes" reportedly features three blues covers — "Blue Suede Shoes", "Evenin'" and "Wee Wee Baby" — as well as two versions of a track called "Song For Jim", with the name in the title "referring directly to Simpson," according to Jim. Iommi plays guitar in the first version, while the second version features a rare performance on the flute. There is also an "Untitled" track and three more songs, "Free Man", "Wicked World" and "Warning".

Simpson added: "If we can finally release this album, it will be a great gift to the music world and to millions of SABBATH fans."